Woman charged in grandmother's slaying

May 28, 2014
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Katherine Schubert, who is accused of beating her grandmother, 94-year-old Mary Driscoll of Brick, N.J., is now facing a murder charge after Driscoll‚??s death on Saturday. / Asbury Park Press, courtesy Ocean County, N.J., jail

by Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

by Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

BRICK, N.J. -- A woman who is accused of severely beating her grandmother has been charged with murder, following the elderly woman's death over the weekend, authorities announced Wednesday.

Katherine Schubert, 37, of Brick faces the upgraded charge of murder in connection with the death of 94-year-old Mary Driscoll, said Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Brick Police Chief Nils Bergquist in a news release.

Driscoll was initially discovered May 18 inside the home she shared with her granddaughter, according to the news release.

Driscoll's daughter, Michele Schubert, who is the mother of Katherine Schubert, had tried to reach them for two days before she came to the house with Katherine Schubert's friend, authorities said.

Once there, Michele Schubert and her daughter's friend found Driscoll slumped in a bed and found Katherine Schubert sitting in the kitchen, police said.

Before Driscoll's death, authorities said she suffered cuts and bruises and had bleeding to her brain. Schubert was initially charged with aggravated assault.

After spending a week in critical condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Driscoll died Saturday, authorities said.

Dr. Ian Hood, forensic pathologist for the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office, determined that Driscoll died because of complications of head trauma. He ruled her death a homicide.

Since her grandmother's death and the announcement of the new murder charge, Schubert's bail has increased from $150,000 to $750,000, cash only. She remains in the Ocean County Jail.

If convicted of the murder charge, she faces a possible sentence of life in prison.